


Turning over a new leaf

by SteveM



Series: Building A Better World [4]
Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:21:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25803526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM
Summary: Kara discovers what Lena was up to in Star City while Kate continues her investigation into Earth First.
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Kate Kane, Kara Danvers/Kate Kane
Series: Building A Better World [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837882
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

Lena Luthor climbed slightly painfully out of her chair and headed out on to the balcony. The view over National City was always impressive but this late in the evening with the sun barley above the horizon it was downright beautiful. Golden light steamed through the artificial canyons between the downtown office buildings like a river, the only sounds the ever-present but distant drone of traffic and the general rumble of people living their lives. She sighed and tried to work a knot out of her right shoulder that had been bothering her all day but try as she might she just couldn’t reach it properly.

“Need some help?”

Through years of practice Lena managed not to jump out of her skin and instead turned slowly, one eyebrow raised to see her visitor hanging in the air a few feet beyond the edge of the balcony. Supergirl’s cape moved gracefully in the breeze, her golden hair caught by the setting sun and, of course, that familiar smile warming Lena’s world. 

“If you’ve got time.” Lena replied with a smirk that was only partially fuelled by the thought of having the Girl of Steel as her personal masseuse. 

“For you? Always.” Kara touched down and swept Lena into a hug. “How’re you doing?”

“Good.” Lena said, her arms wrapping around Kara and squeezing as hard as she could. She always wondered if Kara even noticed but ever since Lex had been sent away and Kara had helped her see the light Lena had somehow felt that aggressive hugs were the way to go. “Actually better than good. Pretty much all of our major expansions are on target, revenue in general is up, the board is actually happy for once and thanks to Kate’s expertly written ‘go fuck yourself’ report I’m out of the Earth First crosshairs too.”

Kara laughed and led Lena back indoors and settled her down on the low couch. She turned Lena at an angle and slid in behind the stressed executive. “That’s all great but…. How’re *you* doing?”

“Oh.” Lena was suddenly grateful Kara was behind her so as not to make the blush too obvious. “Sorry, force of habit.” 

“I know, that’s why I asked twice.” Kara said. “I’ll get tetchy if I have to ask a third time though.”

“I’m… honestly things have been weird but good recently.” Lena admitted. “I’ve been… uh…. Well…”

“Oooh, this sounds good!” Kara teased, placing her hands on Lena’s shoulders. “You tell me, I’ll work on your back?”

“Oh that’s not faaaoooohhhhhhmmmmgoddddd.” Lena felt her eyes trying to roll back into her head as Kara’s fingers found the first of what Lena was pretty damn sure would be dozens of knots and started to tease it away. It wasn’t the first time Kara had done this for her but it was rare enough that Lena always forgot just how good it felt.

“Nope, it’s not, but I’ve learnt to take any advantage I can around you.” Kara breathed and something about the way she said it had Lena shivering.

“Glad to see you’re paying attention.” Lena teased although the effect was somewhat spoiled by her head lolling forward halfway through the sentence. “I’m… kinda, sorta seeing someone.”

“That’s great!” Kara said and mostly meant it. “Guy? Girl? Cybernetic stud?”

“Kara!”

“What? We live weird lives and I wouldn’t put it past you to design a better lover if spurned by someone who clearly had no taste whatsoever.”

“That’s… sweet?” Lena said clearly not at all sure it was. “Girl as it happens.”

“Anyone I know?”

Lena paused then giggled. It was such an unexpected thing from Lena Luthor that Kara actually stopped dead.

“Sorry, sorry… I just suddenly wanted to say Alex to find out what your reaction was.”

“LENA!”

“And then I realised that maybe doing that while your hands were gripping my shoulders wasn’t the best idea if I wanted to lift anything ever again.”

“Why would you…”

“Which is a shame because god damn your sister’s hot.” Lena said, twisting around to look back over her shoulder at Kara’s shocked face. “I’ve been lusting after that ass ever since I saw her in her work clothes.”

“Lena…”

“It’s alright, I won’t try to steal her away from Kelly.” Lena reached round and patted Kara’s knee, a slightly odd feeling when she was wearing the super suit. “But if that ever goes south feel free to mention me.”

“I, uh…”

“Anyway don’t worry, it’s not Alex. Or her evil twin.”

“So who is it?” Kara asked, genuinely curious. Lena was normally so direct but was really going to some effort to stall her here.

“It’s, well…. Mia Smoak.”

Kara blinked, her first thought being that’d be tricky considering Mia was about two years old in the present. It took a moment for her exasperated brain to point out to the rest of her that Mia could time travel thanks to Sara Lance. As soon as she’d cleared up that little mystery a big grin spread across her face.

“That’s fantastic Lena! Oh you two are going to be so much trouble together.”

“THAT’S where you go with this news?” Lena laughed and Kara joined in.

“Good trouble. She’s just what you need and good knows she’s got it bad for you.”

“Woman has taste.” Lena said with a look that made Kara a little nervous though in a good way. “Plus she’s phenomenal in bed which is always a bonus!”

“Knowing you that becomes competitive real quick.” Kara smiled as she let her hands start wandering across Lena’s back again.

“Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition for the keys to the handcuffs.” Lena said cheerfully. “As I’m sure you know full well!”

Kara blushed but returned the knowing smile. “Well you’re not wrong there. Uh, I hate to ask this but… how does a time travelling relationship work, exactly?”

“Honestly we’re still figuring that out.” Lena admitted. “At the moment we’re treating it more as a casual thing and… and see where it goes. Apparently I did a pretty good job at keeping my private life out of the media so while there’s a lot about my professional work on record for her to see neither of us know if this can screw up the timeline.”

“So, what, casual sex and an open relationship?”

“For now at least. Normally I’d say I’d go and talk to the experts about this sort of things but when the closest we currently have are the Legends…”

“Yeah I can see why that might not be your first choice. I take it Mia has done her homework on all of us then?”

“Uh, actually not as much as you’d think.” Lena said, shuffling her shoulders under Kara’s fingers and guiding her up a little on the right side. “She’s worried about knowing too much and changing history. Or having to live with knowing how we die and not being able to do anything about it.”

“That would suck.” Kara agreed, lowering her head and blowing a jet of cool air over Lena’s shoulder to ease some of the heat building up in her muscles. “Does she… umm… I mean…”

“Mrs Danvers, are you trying to get information on your own future!” Lena said feigning shock. 

“No. No not at all. No…. Okay, yes.”

“All she’d tell me was that stunt you pulled to send a message of hope through the Universe worked better than you could imagine. A couple of decades from now that mix of your sigil and the Bat is still treated with… now what was the word she used… ah yes, awe.” Lena half turned, her long black hair sliding over Kara’s arm as she did so. “To be completely honest with you Kara it sounds like you might have started a religion.”

There was a long, thoughtful silence for a minute before Kara spoke again. “A religion based around hope. I… I can think of worse things.”

Lena laughed and let her head roll back to rest on Kara’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth that’s exactly what I said when Mia told me. Plus their deities are a lot better looking than most!” She teased before groaning as Kara started to vibrate her fingers over a particularly stubborn knot. “Oh my… that’s… how does Kate not just insist you do this every single minute of the day.”

“Because she married me so lives a stress-free life.” Kara replied but the snort from Lena told her just how successful that line had been.

“Riiight. So she’s not, for example, swooping down from on high to take on a group of Hellgrammites while you sit around and swig champagne?”

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

“No?”

“No! I didn’t swig, I sipped.”

“I stand, uh, sit corrected.” Lena chuckled. 

“How did you know about that part anyway? It didn’t make the news.” Kara asked as she started to carefully knead Lena’s shoulders.

“I…oooooohhhh myyyyy…. I…. Ffff….. bbbb….” Lena seemed to lose the power of speech as Kara started digging out the stresses and strains of running a major multinational company in earnest. 

‘Sorry, didn’t catch that?” Kara said, easing off a little to let Lena regain her senses.

“Kate sent me a private message along with the report.” Lena said as her head started to flop forwards. “You’re going to have to catch me in a minute…”

“Keep going or stop?” Kara asked.

“Stop… for now anyway… I’ve got something I need to show you.”

Kara backed off, running her fingers over Lena’s shoulders, neck and back to give her a nice tingly finish to the brief session. Reluctantly Lena got to her feet and flexed her back experimentally. 

“Wow! That’s actually a huge improvement!” She said happily, stretching her arms above her head and working her neck in a circle. “You’re a miracle worker Kara.”

“True.” Kara replied with a grin. “Always nice to be able to use the powers for something relaxing instead of punching things.”

“Talking of which, come with me.” Lena said, leading the way to her private elevator and keying for the small, very off-the-books research complex buried in the depths of the building.

“Should I be worried about something?” Kara asked, slightly concerned that Lena seemed to have made a connection between violence and showing her whatever it was that was preying on her mind.

“No but I suspect your first reaction is going to be to hit something so promise me you won’t?”

“Okay. Uh, I promise?” Kara was now thoroughly confused but after all this time she trusted Lena would have a good reason for asking.

“Great.” Lena took Kara down a short side corridor and ushered her into a dark, empty room. The walls, ceiling and floor were black tile with the only breaks being the door they’d come in by and a large one-way windows at the far end. Through it Kara could see a surprisingly large lab setup, one end overtaken by a riot of trees, plants and general flora, a bank of lights above simulating natural sunlight. On the right side was a living space with open plan kitchen and living areas leading to what seemed to be screened off bathroom and bedroom. And sitting at two workstations, pouring over their laptops, were…

“What the hell are they doing here?” Kara said bluntly. “Lena… why do you have Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy locked up in your basement?”

Lena looked nervous but determined. “Believe it or not this wasn’t my idea. Well… no, okay, them working with me was my idea. But only after they came after me.”

“You’re not making any sense…” Kara said gently. “Deep breath, start at the beginning.”

Lena nodded, did as Kara asked and tried to think where best to start.

“So… you know I’d spent the last few weeks in Star City?”


	2. Chapter 2

Lena should have been tired. She’d been up for far too long and spent way too much time talking to a lot of execs that had been educated far beyond their abilities. She should have been yawning and crawling under the sheets of the bed waiting for her in the palatial President Suite of the Star City Hilton. Instead she found herself buzzing with energy, barely able to stop from running around the enormous apartment. She forced herself to go out on the balcony and look out over the bright lights of what had been the Green Arrow’s home town. Was and would be again, she corrected herself with a smile. Mia would watch over this city in the future and Lena had privately resolved to make sure it was in the best possible shape until then. Hell that was the reason she’d come here in the first place, looking for ways to help that the board wouldn’t instantly crucify her for.

To her surprise she heard the distant click of the apartment door opening and glanced down, checking that the ring was on her finger. Stepping cautiously inside she spotted two women in the smart but conservative uniform of the hotel staff. Between them they were moving a large room service trolley and the one bringing up the rear eased the door closed behind them.

“I think there’s a mistake, I didn’t order anything.” Lena said casually, keeping her distance.

“Oh no mistake honey, in fact you’re on the menu!” The closer of the two spoke with a Brooklyn accent and Lena caught a glimpse of pale, almost white skin beneath the long blonde hair as she grabbed the lid off the serving dish. Instantly four thick vines shot out, grabbing the shocked executive and holding her body spread-eagled, the thin silk of her pyjamas clinging to her enviable curves as she found herself stretched almost to the point of pain. A fifth vine wrapped around her head, gagging her.

“Oh wow… you’re even prettier in person!” Harley said, openly measuring up Lena and making her intentions crystal clear.

“You’re not wrong Harls. Almost as good as the Bat.”

“I dunno Ive, those abs were spectacular!”

“Are you still going on about that? There are other things to admire you know. Take, for example…” Ivy gestured and a smaller vine shot out and flicked down like a miniature whip, slicing open Lena’s top from collar to waist and letting it drop open around her body. The vines holding her tilted her forward a little and she felt the silk slide away from her now-naked breasts.

“Woooooowwwwwwww.” Harley drooled, actually drooled at the sight. “Oh those are… I said Wow, right?”

“You did.” Ivy confirmed. “But it’s accurate so twice doesn’t hurt.”

“One for each of ‘em!” Harley laughed. “Oh we’re going to have so much fun with you LL.”

That, Lena thought, was quite enough of that. She’d wondered if there might be something more going on here but it was already pretty clear what the two villains had on their minds. After all Kate had given her the highlights of her own recent encounter with them and what Supergirl had done to them in retribution. She really didn’t feel like giving them a chance at a repeat performance, at least not of the first part. They’d also made the critical error of leaving her hands free.

She clenched her right fist and felt the familiar but still odd sensation of the nanotech springing into action.

“What the fuck!” Harley yelled as a purple and green wave of metal shards seemed to erupt from nowhere, flowing over Lena’s hand and down her arm, easily shredding the vine that held her.

“Oh that can’t be good…” Ivy muttered, pulling another wave of vines up behind her from the plentiful supply they’d smuggled in on the serving cart as Harley grabbed the bat she’d taped underneath it.

In a couple of seconds their victim had gone from being bound spreadeagled and half naked in the air to landing with a muffled clang on the floor fully encased in a metal suit of armour. Harley, acting seemingly on instinct, jumped forward and swung the bat with all her strength. Lena moved with surprising speed to not just block the hit but catch it! The bat was ripped from Harley’s grasp and snapped in half like a twig.

“Okay time to go!” Ivy called to Harley, a vine snaking around her friends’ waist to yank her away from the unexpected threat as she sent another wave racing forward to buy them some time.

“Oh I don’t think so.” Lena’s cool, calm voice whispered through the room as she raised her right arm and the barrel of a weapon flowed up from the suit. Bright blue circles jumped from it, expanding to fill the entire room and catch both Ivy and Harley in the middle of them. Their eyes rolled back and they slumped to the ground unconscious. With their mistress out cold the plants dropped to the ground becoming just another, well, plant.

It took almost half an hour for the effects of the beam to wear off and Lena was glad she’d gone to such lengths to make her armour comfortable as she sat and watched her prisoners. She’d never been able to figure out why Lex had insisted on designing the original to really only work standing up and fixing that had been surprisingly high on the list for her mark two version. The two villains almost looked peaceful as they slept although she was pretty sure that wouldn’t last long.

“Ooooh, my head. Ive, did we hit the fertiliser again?” Harley groaned as she swam back towards the waking world.

“Shh, too loud, breathing too loud.” Ivy replied and went to roll away from the noise. “Wait… what the…”

“Ive… can you move?” Harley asked and there was a mix of curiosity and fear in her voice.

“No. You?”

“No.”

“I believe that’s the point of bondage.” Lena put in and fought to hide a grin as she saw the two super villains crane their necks forward to see her. It was only then, apparently, that both women realised they were naked.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ivy asked deadpan but with a flash of anger in her eyes.

“Oh no. No no no, you came here to have some fun, remember?”

“Yeah but with you!” Harley put in.

“I’m here aren’t I?”

“But…” 

“And you two are clearly ready for some ‘fun’, right?”

“No! Well, okay, naked and tied up is a good start…” Harley mused but Ivy cut across her.

“Harls, sweetie, let me do the talking here, okay?”

“Works for me.” Lena shrugged, the suit doing a remarkably good job of conveying the gesture. “You can start by explaining why you broke your word to Supergirl.”

“What word?” Ivy asked but the moment of panic in her eyes had already given her away.

“That you’d turn over a new leaf, so to speak. Go…. Well, not straight, obviously, but legal? Come on it can’t be more than a couple of weeks ago you tried this same shit with Batwoman, right?”

“Oh. That word.” Ivy said flatly trying to ignore the whispered ‘oh shit’ from alongside her.

“Yes, that word. In case you don’t know Supergirl and I are friends. She told me everything that happened that night, including how Harley here got you both a lot more than Supergirl was going to give you.”

“Yeah, those ice cubes weren’t fun.” Ivy said but Lena just shook her head.

“Come on Ivy, don’t bluff when you’ve got no cards. Or clothes. It was hot lube, not ice, and you know it.”

Ivy winced and closed her eyes for a moment. If Lena knew about that then she probably did know most of what had happened. And probably knew it from Supergirl’s perspective which wouldn’t exactly paint them in a good light. 

“Yeah it was and that was mean!” Harley put in with a pout. “Took me days to feel… y’know, comfortable down there.”

“I’d have a lot more sympathy if you hadn’t just tried to do the same thing to me.” Lena put in casually.

“What? No, no we didn’t. We didn’t!”

Lena sighed and flicked her wrist in their direction. A small pot landed on the pillow between them and Ivy almost shrieked with outrage.

“HARLEY! God fucking damn it! You promised!”

“Oops.” Harley looked sheepish but Ivy was clearly fuming and in no mood to drop it.

“Oops? No, no oops. You promised we were done with this and brought that shit anyway!”

“I… uh…. I love you?”

“Sweet.” Lena said sarcastically and her voice had gone cold. “But the fact remains you brought that here to torture a Luthor. How do you think this ends?”

“Ummm, hugs and kisses?” Harley said hopefully.

“I swear if there was a plant around I’d have gagged you by now.” Ivy said angrily, casting her eyes around the room and suddenly spotting the serving cart through the open door to the living room. She reached out… but couldn’t find anything. She tried again and still, nothing. But she could see the end of one of her vines resting on top of it!

“Don’t bother. You’re in a null field, your powers won’t work in here.” Lena said flatly. “Oh and by the way it also cuts out all sound, I wanted to make sure we weren’t interrupted.”

“Interrupted from what?” Ivy asked nervously. The Luthor name wasn’t just feared in the hero world after all, and this woman had outsmarted and outmanoeuvred Lex on multiple occasions. She also had very good reason to be pissed at them both which didn’t bode well at all!

“Well that depends on you. The way I see it you’ve got three choices. I could drop you both off at Arkham myself, tonight. I wouldn’t tell anyone you’re there but I can’t imagine it’ll take Batwoman long to find out and Supergirl won’t be far behind. If they find out why you’re back inside… well, I’d want to be somewhere more secure than Arkham if I were you.”

“Option 2?” Ivy asked with a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach,.

“I save everyone some time and give Supergirl a call right now. I doubt she’d be in a very good mood with you two though. Trust me on this one, you really don’t want the Girl of Steel mad at you, she can get quite… creative.”

“Uh… red?” Harley said and there was a definite pleading edge to her voice.

“Yeah, that’s not… what’s option 3?”

“Ah well that’s the hardest one of all.” Lena said, leaning back and somehow looking casually cool wearing a suit of power armour. “You come and work with me.”

There was dead silence in the room and it took a few seconds for Ivy to find her voice. “Say that again?”

“Come work with me.”

“As, what, slaves?”

“Hardly.” Lena said and there was genuine disdain in her voice at the thought. “You’re both incredibly gifted in your own fields and if there’s one thing I hate it’s seeing people waste their potential. Harley, you’re a skilled psychiatrist with a genuine insight to some of the hardest cases in the world. What could you do with that talent if you weren’t… well, going through the list would take the rest of the night.”

Harley didn’t reply but suddenly looked very thoughtful. “And Ivy…. Good god, you’re one of the best biologists on the planet! Maybe *the* best. You have a view into this world and its ecosystem that no-one can hope to match. Yet you’d rather be a… what was it now… oh yes, an ‘eco-terrorist’ than really make a difference?”

“Hey, how else are some of these assholes going to learn than swimming in their own toxic waste!” Ivy shot back but Lena just shook her head.

“And what sort of benefit does that give you? A few dead execs and you’re back in Arkham with another life sentence or two bolted on? Meanwhile there’s a dozen other companies jumping in to take up the slack.”

“And you’ve got a better idea?” Ivy snarled defensively.

“Of course. Which part of ‘Luthor’ is confusing you here?” Lena replied. “L Corp is pushing hard into renewable energy, environmentally-friendly alternatives to some of the worst chemical agents humans use around the world and that’s just the start. Work with me and you can make a real difference, something that’ll outlast you and maybe, just maybe, fix this whole damn planet.”

“For the people on it maybe. They’ll never understand nature, never live in harmony with it!”

“No. No they won’t. Want to know why?” Lena gestured through the open door and to the window overlooking the city. “They’re people. Humans, aliens… doesn’t matter. Harmony isn’t in our makeup. Just like it’s not in yours.”

“What?!? I want…”

“You want to remove the people from the equation. That’s just as bad as turning the world into one giant parking lot. If this is ever going to work we need to find a middle ground, a compromise that works for everyone and everything.”

“I…” Ivy spluttered, caught between her passions and the hard reality of Lena’s words.

“Ive.” Harley almost whispered the word and Ivy turned her head to see, to her shock, her girlfriend crying. “Ive, I think she’s right. Think what you could do, really do, if you went legit.”

“But, but I… Harley, what if… what if I can’t…?”

“It’ll be okay.” Harley said quietly. “You’ll be okay. She’ll take care of you, right LL?” She called to Lena and was surprised when she got a shake of the head in return.

“No, I told you I’m not interested in a slave and you can assume that means in any sense of the word up to and including pet. I’ll provide a lab and, until you’ve proven you can be trusted, somewhere to live. It’ll be secure, probably more so that Arkham if I’m being honest, and you won’t be free for a while but it’s a start. For both of you.”

“Wait, both of us?” Harley said, surprised. “But… what do you need me for?”

“Nothing. I don’t *need* either of you. I can just see the potential in you both and am offering you a chance to realise it. Remember, you came hunting me not the other way around.”

“Oh. Right.”

“But I can think of a dozen ways your skills can help both in what Ivy’s doing and far, far beyond that. We’ve got a VR system in the works that has the potential to revolutionise therapy just for starters. Plus I’m not my brother. Just as I’ve got no interest in servants I’m sure as hell not going to break up a loving couple.”

“Awwwww.” Harley simpered and Ivy rolled her eyes. “Whadda you say Ive, give it a try?”

“I’m not sure we’ve really got a choice.” Ivy said grudgingly. “So what happens next?”

“I’ve arranged transport back to National City for the pair of you. The bad news is it won’t be ready until tomorrow night and I’m sure as hell not letting you out of that bondage until we’re ready to travel.”

“Oh great. And what, exactly, are we supposed to do for two days while we wait?” Ivy snarked. “Can you hold a book for me?”

“I had something rather more… interesting in mind.” Lena said. “You really did come prepared for this didn’t you?”

“Huh? A couple of strap-on’s maybe but… Harls?” Ivy sent a suspicious look at her girlfriend who smiled weakly.

“Uh, well, I was going to tell you but wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Oh it’s going to be.” Lena told them. “Because I intend to use all of it.”

“Oh no…” Harley breathed, her mind racing through the inventory of the bag she hadn’t told Ivy about. “Wait, all of it? Including…” Her eyes darted right to the small jar still lying between her and Ivy.

“ALL of it.” Lena confirmed. “You brought it, you get to experience it. What I haven’t decided yet is exactly what I’m going to do with that stuff. Or who gets it. But if either of you tries to escape I promise you you’ll both spend the entire journey back to Arkham with every last drop coating every hole I can ram a dildo into. Which you can consider a preview of things to come as I’ll make sure it’s a nightly part of your damn therapy. Understand?”

Both women swallowed and shifted slightly in their restraints. They’d seen what it did, most recently inside Harley herself, and neither were keen to repeat the performance.

“Honestly though that should be the least of your worries. Harley really is rather inventive Ivy, must keep things interesting in the bedroom.”

“She is and it does.” Ivy ground out wishing for a moment that Harley didn’t have quite such an active imagination. 

“I’m a bit spoilt for choice.” Lena confessed. “So I’m just going to grab stuff at random and we’ll keep going until the bag’s empty. Won’t that be… fun.” The last word had such a mix of dread and promise that both bound women couldn’t help but be somewhat turned on by the idea. The thud of an extremely full canvas bag that seemed large enough to contain a fully grown person didn’t help matters as Lena placed it on a small table at the foot of the bed.

“Jesus Harls, what were you thinking!” Ivy said, her eyes wide in shock.

“I didn’t want to have a great idea and find we couldn’t do it.” Harley replied in a stunned tone as the reality of the situation started to sink in. “I mean, who knew she was gonna go all superhero on us?”

“Ah, just for clarity…” Lena said, holding up one armoured finger. “I’m not a hero, let’s be clear about that. I might be on the side of the angels but I’m well aware I’m not one of them. Which, again to avoid any doubt, is likely a very bad thing for you two. You think Supergirl’s got a mean streak? Wait until you see what someone with more… flexible morals can do.”

She unzipped the bag and dipped her hand in, grabbed the first things that pressed into her palm and brought out… “Well that’s a great way to start!” Lena said with a delighted smile. “Clover clamps and, oh look, two sets connected by a nice long chain. Now I wonder what we can do with those.”

She let the clamps dangle from her hand and waved them gently back and forth over first Ivy and then Harley, the cold metal brushing rapidly hardening nipples. “Hmm, that chain looks a little short but I’m sure we can stretch things a little…” With a wicked grin she leant down and let the evil clamps pinch down on Ivy’s breasts then ran the matching pair over to Harley and did the same. Sure enough the chain was barely long enough and the clamps tugged painfully. 

“There, see, could have been worse. Just don’t move and you’ll be fine.” Lena said cheerfully, walking around to the foot of the bed to look down at them as both women tried to ignore the delicious pain and hold very, very still. “Though I do find myself curious about something,”

“Oh… really?” Ivy gasped. “What might… that be exactly?”

“Either of you ticklish?”

“What? Why would.. oh. Oh no! No no no, you can’t be serious!” Ivy protested.

“She’s bluffing Ive, don’t worry!” Harley said with more confidence than she felt.

Lena just laughed and it was a delightfully evil sound that sent shivers down the spine yet left both women wanting to hear it again. “One thing you both need to learn if you’re going to work with me. I don’t bluff….”


	3. Chapter 3

“You… you really did that?” Kara asked, her jaw hanging open and the need to let her hands wander downwards becoming rather urgent. 

“Well just to get them warmed up of course.” Lena said with a modest smile. “You should have heard the screams when I found Harely’s inflatable dildos…”

“You didn’t!” Kara said trying not to laugh.

“Of course I did.” Lena said with a shrug. “They would have done the same to me, assuming either of them had the creativity to think about it.”

There was a long silence only broken when Kara asked in a distracted way: “So… what did you do?”

“Why Supergirl, are you sure you should be asking about such evil, filthy, scandalous things?” Lena teased.

“Considering that I’m still debating walking in there and throwing them into space for breaking their promise after what they did to Batwoman, yeah I’m asking.”

Lena shrugged. “As it turned out Harley had quite the collection of toys. Filled them front and back with inflatable plugs, shoved a couple of double sided dildo gags in their mouths and rode their faces while they screamed in pleasure. Oh, and gave them another pump every time they orgasmed of course.”

Kara winced at the thought but she couldn’t deny that, in her opinion, Ivy and Harley had pretty much had it coming. “I guess they learned not to get on your bad side.” She said only half-joking.

“Oh they got off lightly. And often.” Lena threw Kara a wicked look, letting her eyes slowly rake up and down the Kryptonian’s stunning figure. “Regret not being captured when you were on my bad side?”

“What? No! No… no of course not…. no.” Kara knew that as believable denials go she was metaphorically standing over the corpse with a smoking gun and carrying a detailed single-spaced essay on why she’d killed the victim but it was worth a try.

Lena didn’t even had to reply, instead just raising an eyebrow and morphing her blatant leering into an ‘oh really’ expression. Kara was pretty sure the blush reached her toes and quickly tried to change the subject. “Do you think you can trust them?”

“Not yet but give them some time to adjust to doing things on the right side of the law.” Lena said. “I blame you for this by the way, that Supergirl optimism is clearly contagious.”

“I wish it was…” Kara sighed and Lena suddenly realised there was something hiding behind those blue eyes she wasn’t used to seeing. Weariness.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, stepping in close and putting an arm around Kara’s shoulders.

“Uh… do we have anything else to do with these two?”

“Well I was going to introduce you and let you put the fear of… well, Supergirl into them but that can wait.”

“No. No let’s do that first. Then I’ll tell you, I promise.”

“Alright, if you’re sure. And you give your word not to deep-fry ‘em of course.”

“Cross my heart.” Kara said with a tired but warm smile. 

The door slid open and Lena led Kara into the pristine lab. Or at least mostly pristine, Harley’s section had a certain pre-exploded look to it that appeared to be a deliberate design choice on her part. 

“How’s it going, settling in alright?” Lena asked as she entered.

“To our new cell? Yeah, it’s great.” Ivy said but there wasn’t quite as much sarcasm in the words as it felt like there should be under the circumstances. “And… oh.”

Ivy froze as she saw the blonde walking behind Lena and had to fight back the urge to summon some plant-based backup. Not that she could in here of course but still…

“Ive, what’s up? Why, why, why is Supergirl here?” Harley said, sticking her head out from behind a monitor and realising exactly why her partner had just trailed off. “Uh, hi Supes. No hard feelings, right? Heh.”

Kara moved like lightning, going from standing alongside Lena to towering behind Harley in the blink of an eye, one hand gripping her shoulder in a steel vice. “About what you did to Batwoman? Yes, hard feelings are still very much present but you did at least pay for that.” She leant down to growl the next words in Harley’s ear. “But you promised to be good after that and immediately broke that promise. By going after another of my friends at that.”

“We didn’t know she was your friend!” Harley protested, trying to ignore the odd nervous excitement swirling in her stomach. “We, I thought as she was a Luthor then it was passing acquaintance level at best.”

“Well you thought wrong.” Supergirl snarled. “And that puts us in a difficult place doesn’t it?”

“Hey, we paid for that too!” Harley protested. “And for a lot longer than your punishment!”

“Yes, Lena told me you hadn’t learned your lesson when it came to bringing your toys along either.” Supergirl sighed. “What am I going to do with you Harley? Leading poor Ivy astray like this.”

“I, uh, I’ve learnt my lesson? Look, I’m here working for Ms’s L legit right, doesn’t that count for something?”

“Not until you’ve done it for more than, what, a week and proven you’re not trying to plot anything in the meantime.”

“Well that’ll be easy, we’re not.” Harley saw the look on Supergirl’s face and doubled down. “We’re not, we’re really really not! Look we talked it over when that blonde archer chick was brining us back here by parcel post. We want to make this work. Lena was right, we can actually do some good here, change the world instead of break it.”

“And why on earth should I believe that?” Supergirl asked dismissively. “You’ve tried to burn Gotham to the ground, she’s literally melted someone’s head in toxic waste.”

“THEIR toxic waste, karmic retribution, will of the universe!” Harley said, quick to defend her lover. 

“Not hearing an answer…” Harley felt the heat on the back of her neck and caught the gleam of Supergirl’s red eyes in the monitor.

“Because… because…. “ Harley sighed and turned her head to look straight at Supergirl, an impressive feat of will considering the fire practically dripping from her eyes. “Because despite everything we’ve done we’re not bad guys. Not like that. Not like Joker or Grodd or Lex… oh, no offence Lena.”

“I’ve shot him before now, don’t worry about it.”

“Look, I can’t tell ya we’re definitely going to stay on the right road here. I mean we want to and that’s the idea but I’d be an idiot to guarantee that and you’d be a fool to believe it. All I can say is right now, right here we’re trying to be better. If that’s not enough then fry me. Hell if we screw it up we’d deserve it!”

Supergirl waited a few seconds, letting Harley worry and more importantly letting the moment settle in her mind. Maybe it’d help if or more likely when the temptation to dance on the wrong side of the tracks came to them. 

“That’s a good answer.” Supergirl said quietly and let her heat vision die down. “Try to remember it. Both of you! Because let me make one thing crystal clear. You’ve used up all of my patience. If I ever have to come after you again then, well, seeing as how rumours are the only thing faster than Flash I assume you both know what I did to Steppenwolf?” 

Both Ivy and Harley stiffened in shock. “Wait, that was true?” Ivy asked and there was fear in her voice. “You really… well, buried him alive?”

“He didn’t leave me any choice but yes, it’s true. All of it.” Supergirl said, idly wondering what other little details had magically attached themselves to that tale over time. “Now in your case I’ll have time to think ahead and be a little more creative. I’m sure you don’t want that, right?”

“No! No not at all.” Harley said with a shudder. “For what it’s worth Supes, I’m glad you’re on our side. Uh, Earth’s side I mean, not ours specifically!” The last was added in a hurry at Supergirl’s disbelieving look. 

“For what it’s worth I really hope you both prove that Lena’s right about you.” Supergirl said and her whole attitude shifted in a heartbeat. Suddenly she was once again the happy, kind and compassionate woman that Lena knew so well. “I’ve always believed that we have to try and see the best in people. You two could be shine so brightly, change the world for the better. I can’t think of a better place to do that than right here or a better person to help you figure it out than Lena.”

She turned to go and paused, thinking things through. “And… and if there’s anything I can do to help then just let Lena know.”

She swept from the room and waited for Lena in the observation pod, watching through the window as Harley and Ivy looked at each other in surprise. Lena followed, the door sweeping shut behind her as she lent past Supergirl - a little too close so her hair flicked and brushed across Kara’s cheek - to turn on a hidden speaker system.

‘Well… that could have gone worse.” Ivy said.

“Worse? I’m not sure it could have gone better!” Harley sounded almost gleeful as she spun in her chair. “Damn that girl knows how to motivate!”

Kara blushed as Lena raised an eyebrow and nodded agreement in a way that was somehow totally serious yet sarcastic and more than a little flirty. One of these days, Kara thought, I’m going to need to figure out how you do that if only to surprise Kate.

“Yeah, you’re just high on getting to stare into those big blue eyes again.” Ivy grumbled and Harley almost raced over to slide into Ivy’s lap.

“Can you blame me? Never thought I’d be jealous of a bat but getting to tap that ass would make the whole brooding on rooftops thing worthwhile.”

“Oh I see how it is…” 

“Hey, only as a side thing and only to share. You know you’ve got my heart.”

“Keep this up and that’ll be literal.” Ivy muttered sounding not unlike a sulking teenager.

“Aww, come on, let me prove it…”

“Well…”

“We’re due a break anyway!”

“Maybe…”

“And I’m pretty sure there’s still some maple syrup left.”

“Wow, look at that, lunch time already!”

“That’s quite enough of that.” Lena said as she reached by Kara to flip the sound off and turn the glass fully opaque. She swept past the girl of steel pausing only to close Kara’s jaw from where it had dropped as the two had discussed her in such complimentary fashion. It wasn’t until she got to the elevator she realised Kara still hadn’t moved.

“Coming?”

“Huh? Oh, oh yes, sorry.” Kara walked as casually as she could into the waiting car and jumped as the door slid shut and Lena’s hand patted her butt.

“They’re not wrong mind, this ass is definitely worth tapping.”

“LENA!”


	4. Chapter 4

Half a country away Batwoman was cursing at the Gotham traffic as she made her way on foot over the rooftops. This would be so much easier if she could use the bike but it was broad daylight and the usual afternoon gridlock had started early to play merry hell with getting, well, anywhere. Certainly seeing Batwoman crawling through traffic wasn’t really the impression she wanted to leave on Gotham. Sure she could have just gone as Kate Kane but considering where the tracking dust she’d landed on the Hellgrammites was taking her that probably wasn’t the best idea. Not that she was particularly worried about being in the more downtrodden areas of Gotham out of the suit but it did make it tricky to come up with a decent excuse for why Kate Kane was there in the first place.

The cowl was showing the directions as she dodged between cover on increasingly rundown apartment buildings and the occasional optimistic office block long since abandoned until she came to what seemed more like a condemned ruin than an occupied residential building. But this was very clearly where her tracker data was pointing her and it was pretty unlikely that they’d managed to just ditch all of the dust in one place. Aside from anything else she’d be surprised if this place had running water for a shower. There didn’t seem to be any heat signatures but that didn’t mean much. Hellgrammites were notoriously hard to pin down at the best of times, hiding body heat was only the start of their abilities.

Carefully she made her way in via a broken window on the same floor that their marks were pulsing on. To her surprise the interior of the building was half-gutted, most of the plasterboard walls gone and just the supporting pillars and occasionally load-bearing wall remaining. That was both good and bad news for Batwoman as while it made moving stealthily considerably harder it did, at least, eliminate a lot of ambush opportunities. Slowly, keeping her cape tucked close and sticking to the darkest pools of shadow, she made her way towards her target until they were on the other side of a drywall that was somehow still standing.

Taking a deep breath she stepped around the corner, her hand raised and a Batarang ready to throw… and suddenly had to fight very hard not to throw up. The scene that greeted her was one of carnage, body parts strewn over what had once been a living room. The steady pulse of the tracking dust left no doubt these were the three she’d been hunting but it took her almost a full minute to spot anything recognisable as a Hellgrammite. She knelt down next to a torso to start the grizzly task of checking for any ID, phone, wallet or other information that might be able to help her when she heard the faintest clink of metal on metal.

She froze, ears straining as her cowl pinpointed the noise as coming from somewhere to her right. She deliberately didn’t look, keeping her head down and her hands moving almost automatically over the corpse as she let the systems suck up everything they could. Air currents, sound, scents, patterns, anything that didn’t belong in a static environment. In the corner of her eye a red mark pinged up as the cowl zeroed in on a potential target. 

Batwoman stood and surveyed the scene, deliberately turning to expose her back to the suspected intruder. Sure enough she saw the distance start to close although only the disturbance in the air let her know, so silent was its movement. One thing was for sure, nothing friendly would be approaching so carefully and in such a controlled fashion. She waited until it was barely three metres away then spun, throwing the Batarang she’d palmed while checking for ID in its direction. Something moved with remarkable speed the spinning weapon sparked off metal and flew away. Following the Batarang towards her target came a bright white flare that clattered to the floor to give her a good look at her stalker.

The light was greeted with a hiss of annoyance and Batwoman got her first look at her stalker. Green hair and yellow skin, her arms wrapped to just above her elbow in metal gauntlets ending in vicious looking claws that were dripping blood. Her legs sported similar metal boots coming to above the knee and the rest of her body was covered by metal armour on top of a black body suit. 

“Took you long enough to get here.” The voice was an odd high pitched crackle, the cadence almost a sing-song taunt but Kate suspected that was the norm for this odd woman. 

“Did you do this?” Batwoman growled, pointing at the carnage around her.

“Of course!” The words were accompanied by a proud laugh that sent a chill down Kate’s spine. “Not much of a challenge but some of my prettier work!”

“Who are you?” The two started to slowly circle and neither was in any doubt that the conversation wasn’t ending peacefully.

“Call me Harriet. Close enough on this planet.”

“Alien then?”

“What gave it away?”

“Where are you from?”

“Ah-ah little Bat, that’s one question too far.” Harriet cackled as if at some private joke that Kate most definitely was not in on. “I’d say you’ll find out but as I’m going to gut you alongside these idiots that’s unlikely.”

At the last word Harriet lunged forward, her claws slashing at Batwoman’s stomach. Kate had been waiting for the attack and jumped backwards then had to dive sideways as Harriet seemed to overbalance but tumbled forwards, springing up from her hands to send herself hurtling feet-first at Kate’s face, the sharp edges of her boots raising sparks where they scraped across the cowl. Kate didn’t try to counter preferring to open the gap, buy some time to let her observe this new and unknown opponent. 

Harriet didn’t give her the chance, jumping back and twisting in mid-air to face Batwoman, claws swiping out and catching one of the metal blades on Kate’s wrist braces. Changing strategy Kate planted herself, ducked the next wild swing and stepped closer, punching Harriet as hard as she could in the gut, trying to pick her shot to slip between the metal plates covering her body. Kate winced as she felt her hand scrape across the edge of one plate but her knuckles found the softer bodysuit and the ‘oof’ from Harriet told her she’d found her mark.

Not that she had much time to take advantage of that momentary vulnerability as she saw Harriet tense her neck. Kate had to duck and roll past her opponent to avoid the quick-fire headbutt that would have landed square between her eyes, settling for kicking Harriet’s thigh on the way past. Once again the strange woman surprised her as she felt a claw reach out and skitter off her side, the Batsuit’s armour doing it’s job and keeping her safe. 

“Not bad Bat, but if that’s all you have you’ll be decorating this place soon enough!” Harriet taunted, spinning round and racing forwards, her hands a blur as she slashed and tore seemingly at random, Kate barely staying ahead of her. What the hell are you, Kate wondered, dancing away from blow after blow. Not as quick as Kara but still right at the edge of what Kate could handle and didn’t seem to be getting tired or slowing even a little. She dipped a hand to her belt and grabbed another couple of Batarangs, hurling them into the mix. One was deflected, the other lodged itself into Harriets upper right arm as it managed to find the gap between armour plates and dig in.

“Ah, something to remember you by!” Harriet laughed, pausing only for a moment to check what had hit her wasn’t about to explode before yanking it clear and tucking it away in what had to be a hidden compartment on her side. Kate was already circling to the left, as much of her attention as she dared focused on the display in her eye pieces, watching a progress bar rapidly tick upwards. Another whirlwind of claws buzzed towards her face and she tumbled away, rolling clear to place a broken window just a few yards behind her. There was the softest of chimes in her ear as the bar made it to 100% and she dug in her belt once more.

“Alright, enough, time to die!” Harriet seemed to snap into a much more serious mindset and actually took a step back, preparing for a more focused attack. She never got chance to launch it. Batwoman’s hand jerked forward, the dozen smoke pellets and flash bangs bursting on the ground between them. In an instant the space was filled with thick black smoke, bright lights and deafening thunderclaps and Harriet lurched away from the unexpected sight and noise. By the time she regained her footing Kate was already dropping through the air outside the building, grapple flying to the corner of the roof opposite to let her swing around the next building and break line of sight. 

Harriet burst through the smoke to find an empty room. Cursing she looked around frantically trying to spot her prey but there was nothing but the freshly dismembered bodies she’d created just a few minutes before the Bat had shown up. She wondered if that would be enough to consider this mission a success but knew in her heart that pain awaited her. Some may have considered fleeing rather than admitting failure but not her. No, she was was one of the sisters and she would face her punishment willingly, proudly. She would learn from it, harness it, let it feed her fury. And when the time came to face this Batwoman again she would bathe in her blood.


	5. Chapter 5

“So did you bring the sample?” Lena asked as Kara made herself comfortable on the big white leather couch. 

“Of course, if you’re ready for it?” Kara reached up and pulled the evidence bag from the small hidden pocket on her right shoulder. 

“Yeah, I’ve got my private lab ready for this one.” Lena reassured her, plucking the bag from Kara’s fingers and looking at it carefully. “Hmm, not bad condition all things considered. Give me a second to get this on ice. Oh, talking of, drink?”

“No, that’s fine, thanks.” Kara said, waving away the offer of Lena’s rather impressive liquor cabinet. She watched her friend carefully place the sample, evidence bag and all, into a small cube on her desk and seal the lid before pouring herself a generous whiskey and settling down alongside Kara.

“I’ll try and have something for you as soon as I can. Probably tomorrow evening for the first results unless there’s something drastically weird about it.” Lena said. “Now…. Want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“Bothering me, what do you…” Kara trailed off at Lena’s affectionate scowl. “Okay, okay, no need for that. Sorry, force of habit.” 

“That’s okay, I know it’s not easy letting anyone, even your friends, see the vulnerable part of you.” Lena reassured her. 

“You’re not kidding.” Kara sighed and let her head fall back on the couch so she was talking to the ceiling. “You remember Earth 38, right?”

“Thanks to Lex, yes. Everything. At least, I assume it’s everything… with Lex involved I’m not sure how far I can trust those memories.”

“Do you remember the year before you found out who I was? The anti alien problems?”

“You mean Ben Lockwood? Sorry, I mean ‘Agent Liberty’?”

“That’s it.” Kara confirmed. “Well I’m getting a horrible sense of deja vu. The last few weeks I’ve been hearing more and more about anti alien problems. One family, the one that told me about Earth First, painted a pretty bleak picture and from what I’ve been able to track down it all seems to be pretty much true.”

“And you’re worried you’re not going to be able to fix it?”

“I couldn’t before.” Kara said sadly. “Maybe it’s not a problem that can be fixed. Not quickly, anyway.”

“You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that.” Lena said softly and Kara’s head snapped down to stare in shock at her best friend. “Sorry but the one thing you’ve always struggled with is that there are some problems that not even Supergirl can solve. Which, to be completely honest with you, always seemed like it was holding you back.”

“Okay, you’ve lost me.” Kara said in confusion. 

Lena just laughed, reached out and slid an arm around Kara’s shoulders. “I mean once you stop looking to solve that immediate problem you can start seeing the bigger picture. And…” she hesitated for a moment before continuing.” Look, this is going to sound like such a pick-up line and it really, really isn’t meant to be but I honestly think there’s not much you can’t do when you’re sufficiently motivated. You can’t change everyone overnight but if there’s anyone on this planet who can inspire people to be better day by day, well, it’s probably you.”

Kara reached up and squeezed Lena’s hand in hers. “Thank you. That actually means a lot, especially coming from you.”

“Hey I’ve seen you light up the sky, send a message to everyone in the universe and manage to not kiss Kate Kane for almost two minutes at a time. That’s more than enough evidence to prove I’m right.” Lena laughed as she leant over to kiss Kara’s forehead. There was a contented sigh from the Girl of Steel and she eased back into the hug. As always she had a moment of confusion as she felt the competing pulls of friendship and, well, something more. It felt, Kara realised in a moment of clarity, like a mix of both Alex and Kate… which wasn’t a bad thing at all even if it was a bit confusing.

“There’s something else that I’ve got working for me this time.” Kara said quietly. “You. Not that you weren’t then!” She added quickly realising how what she’d just said could sound. “You had my back as both Kara and Supergirl but now, well…”

“Now I’ve just got your back. Regardless of whether you’re wearing the cape or not.” Lena said reassuringly. “Just tell me what you need and we’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks, I…” Kara broke off as her comm pinged in her ear. “Uh, give me a sec?” She said apologetically, reaching up to tap the tiny unit and accept the call. “Kate, are you okay?”

“Yeah, though someone tried really hard to kill me.” Kate’s voice was loaded with anger and the adrenaline rush of combat. “Listen are you with Lena right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Great, hang on and I’ll call you back on the phone so you can both hear this.”

“It’s Kate, she’s going to talk to both of us. Also someone tried to kill her.” Kara said quickly, bringing Lena up to speed just as her phone rang. She pulled it from the pocket on her left shoulder and tapped the speakerphone option.

“Can you hear me okay?” Kate asked and they could hear the slightly laboured breathing as she worked her way through the night.

“Yes. Now about someone trying to kill you…” Kara said with careful patience. 

“It’s okay, they didn’t manage it.” Kate reassured her and they heard the sound of traffic whizzing by and the growl of a bike engine. “Never seen anything like her before though. Green hair, yellow skin, armoured claws though whether they’re natural or just part of the outfit I don’t know. Fast too and strong, could barely land a good shot on her.”

“That doesn’t sound like a species I know.” Kara said with a questioning look at Lena.

“Nope, sorry, me neither and I got a pretty good look at the DEO files when Lex was running them.” Lena added. “You’re sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah but you might want to make sure you’ve got some security lined up.” Kate said. “Whoever she was she murdered the three Hellgrammites that crashed the Earth First party. Did it messy too, parts everywhere. With Dynamic Developments looking more and more like they’re linked to this that scale might be one hell of a target.”

“You don’t think that this woman, whoever she was, caused the damage in that apartment block?” Kara asked, trying to sort out the pieces.

“No. She was a lot more direct than some of those blows looked. Plus, I hate to say this, but I don’t think her claws would have left such jagged marks. They seemed sharper than that, almost surgical.”

“Well that’s great.” Kara grumbled looking over at Lena. “Kate, how long until you can get to National City?”

“About a day, maybe two. Luke’s running a data dive on Dynamic Developments to try and spot anything suspicious and I want to take another look at that event at the spire if I can. Something’s bothering me about that whole thing…”

“Alright. In that case I think it’s probably a good idea if I stay close to Lena.” Kara said and raised a hand to cut off Lena’s protest before she’d uttered the first syllable. “Sorry Lena, I know you can handle yourself just fine, hell you took down both Harley and Ivy on your own.”

“What? Wait, say that again!” Kate’s voice came from the phone in stunned silence. “What was that about Ivy and Harley?”

“I’ll explain when you get here, for now Lena’s just got some mostly willing houseguests and you don’t need to worry about that part. Now as I was saying you can handle yourself but whatever’s behind this seems to have a fairly wide influence and a lot of nasty surprises. Until we know what’s going on a little extra security won’t hurt.”

“I, oh… alright, fine.” Lena said with a grimace. “Can’t really turn you down after that ‘know when you can’t fix everything’ speech. But one question, how are you planning on doing that, exactly? I can’t have Supergirl standing around all the time. People will talk! And not just in fun, scandalous ways either!”

Kate gave a sigh that the speaker turned into a thin, exasperated breath. “I’ve got an idea but I hate not being there for this. Kara, you packed what I asked you to, right?”

“Of course! Why would I leave anything behind when you gave me that look? But… oh…. Oh no….” Suddenly Kara was looking from the phone to Lena and back with an awkward yet endearing horror on her face. “Kate you’re not serious?”

“Just stick a wig on, get some different glasses and you’ll be fine.” Kate said with a chuckle. “But, and I want to be clear about this, no out of hours work until I’m there, okay?”

“I.. but… there’s got to be… yeah. Yeah okay.” Kara shook her head and gave a rueful smile. “I’ve kinda walked into this one haven’t I?”

“Yep! But I’m sure you’ll have fun. Both of you.”

“Anytime either of you feel like making sense feel free.” Lena put in rather testily. Kara turned to her and threw just enough subservience into her voice to make both Lena and the distant Kate drool. 

“Is that assistant post still available Ms Luthor?”

****

At the top of the Gotham Spire Sheena watched through a soundproof window as Harriet writhed in pain, her body convulsing as energy slashed over her limbs. The only light came from that energy, the rest of the room a deep inky blackness that seemed to devour light. She’d been standing there, watching, for almost an hour and knew she’d be there for at least double that before it ended.

“So the Bat survived.” The voice came out of the darkness and sounded almost amused.

“By running.” Sheena snarled, her anger driven both by the cowardly act and the results she was witnessing before her.

“Yes, interesting. We know she is no coward so what does that tell you?”

Sheena forced herself to concentrate on the question lest she found herself sharing Harriet’s punishment. “That she won’t fight a hopeless battle.”

“Indeed. Retreat and regroup rather than risk defeat. Interesting…” The figure moved to watch the torture being inflicted to her minion. “The one that used to watch over this city may not have been so clear headed.”

“She knows of us now.” 

“No. She knows Harriet. She knows that the Hellgrammites are dead. That is all she knows.”

Sheena hesitated but… fear of pain was almost worse than the pain itself so she forced herself on. “Forgive me but there may be more.”

There was a long, deadly silence then the voice turned thoughtful. “Go on.”

“She was at the housing complex before it was demolished and had time to hunt. We should not underestimate her, there may have been something left behind. And while she may not know she must certainly suspect that either the Hellgrammites or Harriet are linked to Earth First. The chances of a coincidence are too slim and none of the human guests would have been able to hire an alien mercenary so quickly on their own especially considering their… views on non-human life.”

The silence continued and Sheena found her eyes drawn to the jerking form of her sister beyond the glass. To her surprise there was a sudden low chuckle in the stillness.

“Very good. Yes my sweetness she may suspect more than I believed. Well done. Now what, do you suggest, we do about it?”

Sheena swallowed, the invitation both an honour and a trap. If she answered poorly… “Keep her distant from Earth First. Double security shifts and track her down while we can do so with stealth.”

“Hmmm, an interesting idea.” The figure turned to watch the Harriet as she arched off her back so far the only thing supporting her were her feet and the back of her head. “And likely the right one. However there may be an opportunity here that we can exploit. Don’t track her, hunt her.”

“But… the hunter is known here. If the Bat or Kryptonian see it they will know us!”

“Yes. And imagine where their thoughts will take them.” Once more the voice seemed amused and Sheena caught the faintest hint of amusement on the short figure that was suddenly silhouetted by the blue lightning in the room beyond. “It will add to their confusion and make our mission here easier while keeping them at arms length.”

“I will prepare him for the hunt.” Sheena promised but paused before turning away. “May I stay until her time is served?”

“Very good indeed! Yes, by all means, stay and observe her atonement for failure. Keep the image in your mind and heart to motivate you in the battles to come. For his glory.”

“For his glory.” Sheena repeated and, as always, she heard the tiny echo of who she’d once been in the back of mind screaming at her indifference as she watched her sister, her friend scream in agony all alone in the dark.


End file.
